UW, Pearson Join Forces to Market Online Programs

May 9, 2002

The University of Washington and Pearson Education, Inc. have signed an agreement to market UW online courses and certificate programs to private businesses and corporations, providing clients anywhere in the world with quality technology and business courses for their employees.

Under this agreement, Pearson¹s sales force will market corporate versions of 10 UW noncredit online certificate programs consisting of 38 noncredit courses, covering topics in Web development and e-commerce, computer programming and project management. Each program and course will rely on UW instructors and materials and Prentice Hall textbooks and multimedia tutorials. Though the programs can be customized to fit the needs of each client, they will carry the same UW certification as other UW noncredit online programs.

“This is an unique agreement between a public university and a private education company that will allow students from all around the world to learn or improve their technology and business skills,” said David Szatmary, UW vice provost for Educational Outreach. “It is further proof that public universities can work with private partners to better serve their common audiences.”

²We are pleased to offer our corporate customers direct access to the University of Washington¹s outstanding certificate programs,² said Mark Taub, Editor-in-Chief of Computer Science at Pearson¹s Prentice Hall PTR imprint. “We believe these programs will fill an important learning need at the many companies that rely today on Pearson¹s educational content.”

The UW online certificates and courses rely on a mix of Web pages, short videos and e-mail to allow students to complete programs at their own pace, in the comfort of their homes. For more information about the UW’s distance learning approach and offerings, visit www.outreach.washington.edu/dl.

About the University of Washington

The University of Washington is a public research university with campuses in Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell, enrolling nearly 40,000 students a year. It is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and is a member of the Association of American Universities. The UW has seventeen major schools and colleges. The UW has offered distance learning since 1912, and is a national leader among public universities, with 11 distance learning degrees, 27 online certificate programs and more than 300 courses with nearly 10,000 enrollments each year. The UW also coordinates R1edu (www.r1edu.org), a consortium of 34 major research institutions that offer cutting-edge online programs, and the ResearchChannel (CQ), a consortium of 39 institutions that share content on a research television/webcasting channel. UWTV is also available nationwide to subscribers of EchoStar’s DISH 500 Network on channel 9404.